


‘Subtle’ Attention Seeking

by AdrianaintheSnow



Series: Road Trips and Everything In Between [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, Temper Tantrums
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25221787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdrianaintheSnow/pseuds/AdrianaintheSnow
Summary: “Hello Patton,” Logan’s deceptively calm voice intoned as the other voice continued to scream in the background. “I hate to ask, but as you know I am very busy with a… project. I was wondering if you would be able to…” There was another scream in the background, shorter and higher pitched. “Remus do not bite your brother,” Logan said firmly.This is a prequel to Road Trips and Missing Persons by a lot of years.From the prompt “Hi, I’ve been subtle at hinting that I want your attention all day and you haven’t noticed once and now I’m pissed,” with Patton & Remus.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Road Trips and Everything In Between [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1827292
Comments: 24
Kudos: 187





	‘Subtle’ Attention Seeking

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from [a prompt list I found](https://snowdice.tumblr.com/post/623384141757612032/grumpy-affectionate-starters) on tumblr.

“Hel-” Patton cut himself off when he heard a loud, shrill scream on the other end of the phone call he’d just answered.

“Hello Patton,” Logan’s deceptively calm voice intoned as the other voice continued to scream in the background. “I hate to ask, but as you know I am very busy with a… project. I was wondering if you would be able to…”

There was another scream in the background, shorter and higher pitched.

“Remus do _not_ bite your brother,” Logan said firmly, his voice a bit more muffled.

“I can watch them,” Patton said.

“Thank you,” Logan said relieved. “It’ll just be for a couple of hours. I just need a chance to reset.”

“Of course, Lo.” Patton said, and then added, “But you owe me ice cream!”

“You are lactose intolerant,” he reminded with a sigh, but Patton could hear the defeat in his voice. “I’ll be there in 10.” There was a loud crash in the background, and Logan was silent for five seconds as he slowly breathed out into the receiver. “Make that 15.”

“I’ll be ready. Bye! Love you!”

“Love you t- Remus no!” There was a click as he hung up the phone.

Patton grimaced. He guessed it was time to twin proof his house. Logan had adopted Roman and Remus over 6 months ago and while he was happy with his decision to do so, the twins could be a little… much sometimes. Logan was doing his best, but he was a first-time single parent, and the twins had behavioral problems from their previous home. When it got to be too much for him, Patton was there to give him a break so he could step back and return with a better frame of mind.

Patton cleaned up his living room quickly and set up a Disney movie to play on his television. He grabbed the toy box and some coloring supplies he kept in the closet for these occasions. Then, he just had to wait for Logan to arrive.

Patton went out to meet them when Logan arrived, and smiled awkwardly when, upon him opening the door to get out, Patton could still hear Remus screaming. “He has quite the lung capacity,” Patton commented.

“I have become aware,” Logan answered dryly.

Patton walked over to open Roman’s car door. Tears were streaming down the little boy’s face in reaction to Remus’s tantrum. He unbuckled his seat belt and threw himself at Patton. “Shh, shh, it’s okay,” Patton soothed, patting his back. Meanwhile, Logan was struggling to get Remus to leave the car as his screams went up in pitch. Patton looked down at Roman’s red face. “I think, maybe it’s time for some separate time,” Patton suggested. Roman nodded through his tears. “I have The Little Mermaid already set up. How about I take you inside and you can cuddle up on the couch?”

“Yes, please,” he said. Patton took his hand and led him to the house as Logan continued to try to undo Remus’s seatbelt. Patton quickly settled him down on the couch and pressed play on the movie before quickly getting him a glass of water. He’d already calmed down considerably by the time Patton headed back outside.

“No!” Remus screamed, stamping his foot. Logan was holding him by the wrist and Remus was pulling hard against the grip even though Logan didn’t seem to be pulling. “No! No! No!”

“Alright, buddy,” Patton said when he reached them. He bent down and swept the kid into his arms.

“Noooo!” he slapped at Patton’s face, but Patton held firm.

“Go on, Lo,” Patton said.

“Are you sure?” Logan asked, his eyes on the still sobbing child in Patton’s arms.

“I’m sure,” Patton confirmed. “I’ll see you in two hours.”

Logan nodded hesitantly and then got back in his car.

Remus continued to scream, kick, and punch as Patton carried him around the outside of the house and into the backyard. He showed no signs of stopping when Patton made it there, so Patton started walking back and forth across the length of his yard as he screamed and screamed. After a few minutes of it, he slumped, having worn himself out.

“Okay,” Patton said softly and then turned to sit him down on a lawn chair. He hiccupped a couple more sobs. “Hey, Ree.” Remus refused to look at him. “Honey, what’s going on? Do you not feel good?” He shook his head. “Did someone upset you?” The answer came in the form of more tears. “Was it Roman?” They did seem to be at odds at the moment.

“No.”

“Someone at school?”

“No.”

“Your dad?” Silence. “Okay, what did your dad do to upset you?”

“I dunno,” Remus grumbled.

“Yes, you do,” Patton said. “Come on, I can’t fix it for you if you don’t tell me.”

Remus dithered a bit, but then started to speak. “Daddy keeps saying he’s busy. He hasn’t been wanting to play with us at all and he forgot to tell us a bedtime story last night. This morning, he didn’t even cut my toast into a fun shape and I don’t know what I did wrong. Every time I tried to get his attention this morning, he told me to go away. He’s getting bored of us and is going to send us back and un-adopt us.”

“Oh, no, Rem, I promise that’s not what’s going on,” Patton said. “Here,” he hugged him softly before pulling back to wipe the tears off his cheeks. “Your daddy really has been busy. There’s some work stuff going on for him that’s got him a little stressed out, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you anymore.”

“But he’s been ignoring me and it’s making me sad,” Remus cried.

“Have you talked to him about how you feel?” Patton asked.

Remus shook his head.

“Well, honey, you’ve gotta tell an adult when something’s wrong. We can’t read your mind. I’m sure your dad will understand if you just talk to him.”

Remus thought about this, his lip wobbling. “He’s really not going to send us back?” he asked.

“No, sweetheart, never, and I wouldn’t let him.”

He bit his lip. “Okay,” he agreed.

“Okay,” Patton said. “Now, how about we go inside, and you apologize for biting and upsetting your brother. Then we can color.”

He pouted up at him, but Patton just raised an eyebrow. “Fine,” he sighed. Patton bopped him on the nose, and he giggled a bit. Then, he took Patton’s hand and they walked inside together.

Roman accepted his apology, but Patton still sat Remus down in the kitchen to give the two a bit more time apart to cool off before their dad got back. He talked a little more to Remus about appropriate ways to communicate emotions as they colored and ate some blueberries. Hopefully he’d gotten through to the kiddo at least a little bit.

There was a knock on the door exactly two hours after Logan had dropped them off.

“It’s open!” Patton called, and Logan let himself in. Patton turned back to Remus. “Now, isn’t there something you want to talk about with Daddy?” he asked.

Remus got a determined expression on his little face and stood up to march over to his father and pull on his pant leg until he bent down. “Hi,” he said. “I’ve been subtle at hinting that I want your attention all day and you haven’t noticed once and now I’m pissed!”

Both adults winced at the explicit. They’d have to deal with that some other time. Logan’s expression turned bemused after a moment. “Well, I am sorry about ignoring you. I’ve been busy with some grownup stuff.”

“Mmm, okay. I accept your apology.”

“And?” Patton prompted.

“Oh!” Remus said. “And I’m sorry for screaming and biting Roman and kicking you and breaking the flower vase and trying to crawl out of the car window on drive over here!”

“I accept your apology for all of that too, but we’re going to have to talk about some of those things a little bit more because a couple of them were not very safe.”

“Okay, you’re not going to un-adopt me, are you?”

“No, of course not,” Logan said softly. “I’m sorry if I made you think that at any moment.” He reached forward to hug him and it was easily accepted.

Patton leaned back against his kitchen counter with a smile. It had been a rough day, but he thought they’d probably be okay.


End file.
